The Rescuers Down Under: Adventures in the Outback
by bluethunder25
Summary: Penny's dad gets a new job in Australia and she and her new parents head out for the land down under. While there, Penny gets separated from her family and eventually meets up with Cody. As first, the two don't get along, but eventually, a strong bond is formed between them as they go on a journey to find Penny's parents and are soon pursued by Percival's vengeful sister, Raiyna.
1. Longing For a Friend

As the bright sun rose over the Australian outback, its red sands glowed with brilliance. The sleeping mountains and rock formations awoke as they overlooked the wilds before them. The sounds of didgeridoos echoed throughout the blue skies and like an alarm clock, awoke the sleeping animals to greet the new day. From the kangaroos, to the kookaburra; from the wombats, to the echidnas; and from the dingo, to the emu.

In the tall trees, some koalas still rested while some tended to their baby joeys. The sea lions played happily with one another as groups of humpback whales traveled by in packs. Kookaburras pecked through the trees for their morning breakfast as the flying squirrels glided by through the trees where countless snakes slithered on the branches.

Indeed, there was no place filled with more life than the outback. The lakes glistened under the morning sky, the trees swayed in the gentle wind, and every creature; from the mammals, to the insects; dwelled in this marvelous habitat.

But not only did animals live here, humans did as well. One in particular was a young boy.

He was bright young lad. Short blond hair and a large nose. He wore a red shirt, dark brown shorts, and light brown boots.

His name was Cody and he lived with his mother in a small house near Ayers Rock and he loved going out into the wilderness, playing with his friends, and also helping any animals that were in need. But on this particular day, he rushed off because he had a very important engagement.

Dashing over the rocks, swinging on vines, and sliding through logs, he made his way to a clearing where a group of animals awaited him.

One was a grey female kangaroo who was the first to greet him. "Good morning, Cody," she said.

"Morning, Faloo," Cody said back.

Faloo was a close friend of Cody's. She often aided him in his endeavors with helping other animals. And aside from that, she also served as a good fountain of wisdom for him whenever he was in need of advice or feeling down about anything.

"Going to see Marahute and the kids again?" Faloo asked to which Cody nodded.

"That's the fifth time this week, mate," said a voice coming from the trees.

The voice in fact was coming from a male kangaroo rat wearing tan hat, sport coat and carrying a whip. Accompanying him was a fly.

He was Jake along with his friend, Sparky.

Much like Cody, Jake and Sparky dedicated most of their time to helping animals in the outback and after meeting Cody, they were more than happy to help him with his efforts as well, prompting them to set up a station near his house.

Jake hopped off the tree towards Cody and Faloo, but as he landed, a spiky sphere rolled under him, pricking both his feet and tripping him.

The sphere stopped and revealed itself to be a black echidna who chuckled at Jake's misfortune.

"Jase! That's very rude!" said Faloo.

Jase was a rough-around-the-edges type of echidna. He always tried to act like a tough guy and when it came to a fight, he was always the first one to get involved.

"Hey, don't blame an echidna for wanting to have a little fun," said Jase.

"Fun, my eye!" said Jake.

"You wanna start something, tough guy?! Bring it on!" Jase said, lifting up his spines.

Sparky rolled his eyes as he knew that a fight was coming. Jake and Jase had trouble getting along at times and he always thought it was best to just stay out of it.

Luckily, Faloo quickly stopped the two before they got to fighting.

* * *

With that little episode was done, Cody hopped on Faloo and she took him to the cliff where Marahute lived. After bidding Faloo a farewell, Cody ascended up the rocky mountainside. The wind blew his blond hair as he got a quick sniff of the air. This was not a new thing for him, in fact, to him, this was no different than riding a bike.

As Cody finally made it to the cliff, his eyes happened upon a large pair of golden wings which belonged to a giant eagle.

The eagle, Marahute, let out a mighty caw as its wings glowed under the bright sun.

Marahute was the great golden eagle. Cody had met her when she was trapped by a poacher and the two became close friends after he had set her free. However, soon after, the two encountered another ruthless poacher by the name of Percival C. Mcleach, who captured them and was planning of killing Marahute for a fortune. But with the help of two mice, Bernard and Bianca, Cody was able to rescue Marahute.

Soon after, Marahute had children, three baby eagles. And Cody had come to see them many since they had been born.

He gently petted each bird on the head after Marahute fed them each a worm and preceded to pet her as well.

"You've taken real good care of them," said Cody before he looked out in the distance.

Marahute noticed and as if by instinct, instantly knew what was going through his mind and ducked her head underneath him, lifting him onto her back.

Each and every time, Cody went to visit, he always loved to take a ride on Marhute through the skies and this time was no different. Cody's eyes widened with excitement as Marahute opened her marvelous golden wings.

After giving her children a caw goodbye, the magnificent golden eagle dive bombed off the cliff and then ascended upward into the blue sky. As usual, Cody rode Marahute over the red sands and rocky mountains of the outback.

* * *

Penny had been adopted for a few months now. She lived with her new mother and father in a simple apartment in New York. Her father, Steven, was a strapping gentleman with a long black mustache and hair; while her mother, Robin, was a lovely woman with short brown hair.

It seemed like it was only yesterday that she had been captured by the wicked Madame Medusa along with her sidekick, Snoops, and taken to Devil's Bayou to look for the largest diamond in the world, the Devil's Eye. After meeting, two mice, Bernard and Bianca, she was able to get the diamond and with their help, they outsmarted Medusa and escaped her clutches.

Since her adoption, she now went to PS 65, also known as The Little Red School House.

Today was a very sunny Friday and in her classroom, Penny sat by herself, drawing a picture. It was a simple drawing; a bright sun and underneath it was what appeared to be her along with Bernard and Bianca.

This was pretty much how she spent her days at school. Most of her other friends from the orphanage had been adopted and gone to different schools. Not to mention that she didn't exactly fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Suddenly, a brown-haired kid along with a blond girl and black-haired kid joined her at her table, noticing the drawing she had made.

The brown-haired kid snatched it away from her. "Oh look, Penny made more of her 'talking mice!'" he said.

"They do talk!" Penny said, defending herself.

"And are they related to little elves as well?" the blond girl asked mockingly.

"I think she's telling the truth," said the black-haired kid.

Despite this, the two other kids kept Penny's drawing away from her as she tried to get it back from them until they were stopped by the arrival of their teacher; a beautiful woman with long brown hair.

"That's enough! Now give Penny back her drawing!" the teacher said.

All it took was a cold, stern from her to get the brown hair kid to place Penny's drawing back on the table. He along with the blond girl walked away as well as the black-haired kid, but not before saying sorry to Penny.

The teacher noticed Penny looking down at her drawing and told her not to let what the other kids were saying get to her.

The last school bell rang and the students packed up their things in their bookbags and headed out the doors where their parents were waiting, Penny's being one of them.

Even though she had felt a little down, the minute she saw her parents and jumped into her father's arms, her earlier sad feelings were all but gone.

"How was school, Penny?" asked Steven.

"It was...OK," Penny said reluctantly.

Robin could hear the reluctance in her voice, but decided not to say anything on this day. She knew that Penny always looked forward to Friday because aside from being the last school day of the week, she and her father always took her to Central Park after school on Fridays.

"Oh dear, I brought someone who was just begging to come along," Robin said as she showed Penny her teddy bear.

"Hi, Teddy. Did you miss me?!" Penny said as she kissed the bear on the cheek.

Steven wanted to ask Penny if anything happened at school, but Robin immediately cut him off as she didn't want to ruin Penny's good mood. He agreed and the two, with Penny in hand, went off to Central Park.

* * *

There were a number of things Penny liked to do in the park. When she was around the lake, she liked to place one of her fingers in the water, hoping that a fish would gently bite her. Sometimes, she would either relax on the grass underneath the warm sun, or next to a tree in the cool shade. Sometimes, she and parents would fly a kite together and get a hot dog and some ice cream.

However, for today, Penny's parents were pretty tired from work and decided to take a seat. As they saw her rolling around in the grass with her teddy bear, their eyes filled with pride. The same kind of pride they felt when they first adopted her.

But Steven began to feel wavering and Robin, being his wife, could instantly read him like a book.

"Is something wrong, honey?" she asked him.

"I'm worried about Penny," Steven said.

"I am too, but we shouldn't think too much about it," said Robin.

"It's been six months since we adopted her and it seems like she's happy, but I can't help but feel she's not," said Steven.

"She's just a little lonely. It's been hard for her to make friends," said Robin.

"I just wish there was something we could do for her. I just want to be a good father to her," said Steven.

"You are. In her eyes, and in mine," Robin said before she kissed her husband on the lips.

Looking into his wife's beautiful eyes, he felt more assured of himself than he did before, but at the same time, he was still concerned for Penny. In the 6 months he had known her, she came to learn that Penny was a rather strong girl and didn't like to let out her emotions that much, so it was possible that she was in fact hiding some feelings of loneliness. He couldn't just make other kids like Penny, but he knew he had at least do something.

* * *

Hours felt like minutes to Cody as he happily flew on Marahute through the trees, cliffs, and waterfalls. He barely even noticed the sun turning dark red as it set into the rocky mountains. But when he did finally noticed, he realized it was late and his mother would kill him if he was late, especially in terms of recent events.

"Hey Marahute, you think you can drop me off home?" Cody asked.

Marahute obliged, realizing that she needed to return to her family as well and flew Cody over to his house, landing right next to the door.

After getting off, Cody gave her a hug and then waved goodbye as she flew back to her nest.

Inside, Cody was instantly greeted by his mom, a fair woman with short, wavy brown hair.

"Another day with Marahute, I presume?" Cody's mom said.

Cody nodded, though not quite as enthusiastically as he usually did. His mom could sense something was wrong and asked him so, but Cody just covered himself up by saying he was just tired, letting out a fake yawn and hurrying up to his quarters.

* * *

Nighttime had fallen and Penny's parents tucked her along her teddy bear into bed. They both gave her a kiss goodnight and left her to sleep. But after they closed the door to her room, she opened her eyes, got out of bed, and walked to the nearby window with teddy in hand, looking up at the starry night sky.

The truth was as her parents had suspected, she was feeling lonely. She didn't want them to know it, because she didn't want to worry them, but more often than not, she yearned for a friend to call her own.

* * *

Cody thought the exact same thing as he climbed up to the roof of his house that night, also looking up at the stars. He loved Marahute and his other animal friends, but there were those times when he couldn't help but think to himself what it would be like to have a human friend.

* * *

The next morning, Penny and her parents sat down to breakfast. Robin made Penny's favorite cinnamon waffles today, but she wasn't too hungry. Meanwhile, Steven was reading the morning paper.

"Steven, could you go check the mail please, honey?" Robin asked.

Steven nodded and went to the front door.

Meanwhile, Robin could see Penny forcing a small smile as she looked at her as she gently ate tiny bits of her waffles.

"Hi, Mom," she said quickly.

Robin place a hand on Penny's, and looked her eye to eye. "Listen, Penny. You know if you ever want to talk about anything, your father and I are here for you," she said.

At first, Penny wanted to say the first thing that was on her mind, but she was unable to get those words out of her mouth.

Just then, Steven rushed in, elated beyond all belief, holding an envelope in his hand. "Girls, have I got news for you!" he exclaimed.

"What is it, honey?"" Robin asked.

"I got accepted for the new ranger job in Australia!" Steven said.

Robin congratulated her husband with a kiss on the cheek. Steven had applied for the job almost a year ago and had interview a few months ago. The application process was rather slow.

"That's great, dad," Penny said.

"Uh, Penny, you stay here. Your mother and I have to talk," said Steven who brought his wife to the living room to talk.

Steven figured this would be the perfect opportunity for all of them. It could help them bond with Penny more and in this new surrounding, she could possibly make some new friends. Robin agreed, but wasn't sure how Penny would feel about it. So with that, the two went back into the kitchen to explain things to her.

At first, Penny was rather hesitant about the idea of moving. The very thought of being away from her home frightened her a little. But then her father told her about how this would great for their whole family and especially herself.

Penny wasn't too thrilled about moving, but she did not want to disappoint her parents. In addition, the more she thought about her current situation, the more she thought that maybe, just maybe, this would be good for her.

Now of course, the first thing Penny's parents cared about was her happiness, so they were prepared to stay if she didn't want to go, but she was optimistic and open to new ideas, so she figured why not give it a try.

So with Penny's slight approval, it was decided. After Steven called his new boss and he made all the arrangements, it was set. For tomorrow, they would set out for the land down under, Australia


	2. A New Life

Now of course before Penny and her family could move to Australia, there were a few loose ends they had to tie up first. They first stopped by her school to inform the principal of their move.

Even though most of them had made fun of her, Penny's classmates were all pretty sad to see her go.

Next, at Penny's request, they stopped by the orphanage where she had to say goodbye to one of her few and best friends, Rufus. Penny had asked prior if Rufus could come along, but unfortunately, they didn't allow pets on the plane.

Upon entering the orphanage, a deep feeling of nostalgia welled up in Penny's mind. As she passed the lunchroom, she remembered the time Bobby made a mashed potato volcano and spilled gravy on the floor. Or the time when she and the others played a card game using chocolate chip cookies as the cards. Great memories, they all were, and they made her miss her friends greatly.

Finally, she entered the bed room. She could've remembered where everyone slept as if it was yesterday. Bobby slept on the third bed on the right side; Julie on second one on the left. And of course, Jennifer was right near the window on the left. The many times the five of them had pillow fight and told scary stories were too much to count.

Even though she had wished to be adopted, there were those good times she had at Morningside. And part of those good times was of course, Rufus the cat. She just couldn't leave without saying goodbye to him.

And low and behold, she found none other than Rufus, sound asleep on one of the beds.

Taking advantage of the situation, Penny decided to play a little prank on Rufus as she tiptoed towards him and placed Teddy in front of him. She then lightly tapped Rufus, causing him to gently open his eyes and upon seeing Teddy, Penny gave a loud growl which caused Rufus to jump out of bed and onto the floor right next Penny.

"Sorry, Rufus. I couldn't resist," said Penny.

"Why Penny, hello. What brings you here?" asked Rufus.

"Me and Teddy came here to say goodbye," said Penny.

"What? How come?" asked Rufus.

"Me and my parents are moving to A-stralia," said Penny.

This news was quite surprising to the old cat. He had been a longtime friend of Penny's ever since she came to the orphanage and had been like a surrogate father to her through her time there. When ever Penny was feeling down, he was always the one to pick her right up off her feet. Even though he was a little sad, he also realized that in some way, this was a sign of Penny growing up. She had come a bit of a way ever since being rescued by Bernard and Bianca.

As Penny looked out the window, she saw the same bluebird that she and Rufus saw the last time they talked and recalled what Rufus had told her when a previous family didn't adopt her; teaching her about having faith and that it always makes things turn out right.

"Well, I wish you nothin' but luck," said Rufus. "But I'm sure gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Rufus," said Penny as she stroked Rufus. "And Teddy will miss you, too."

Penny placed Teddy in front of Rufus who licked it on it black nose which made him cough up a hairball, much to her amusement.

After giving him a kiss on the forehead, Penny left for her parents car. Tears fell from Rufus' eyes as Penny, along with Teddy, waved a final goodbye to him and Morningside Orphanage.

* * *

It was a bright new day in the outback as Cody, along with fellow friends, Jake, Jase, Faloo, and others, had gathered in the forest. Today was a special occasion because today, the group was set to play one of their favorite games: echidna ball.

The rules of the game were very simple; Jase; being the echidna; would be used as the ball; the objective would be to carry Jase, in ball form, to opponent's goal, the first one to score ten points wins.

The teams were decided; Cody, Jake, and Faloo would be on one team, and Tooly, a light blue wombat, Rooster, a brown wombat, and Harv, a dingo, would be on the other team.

"OK, are you guys ready?" asked Cody.

"Yes," said Faloo.

"You know it, mate," said Jake.

On the other side, Tooly, Rooster, and Harm were ready to go as well.

"All right guys, no mercy!" said Harv.

"Uh...could we just show a tad bit of mercy? We don't wanna come off as mean or anything," said Tooly.

"He means we keep the other team from scoring, ya dung head," said Rooster.

As usual, Jake's pal fly, Sparky would be the referee since he didn't care much for playing the game.

After Jase rolled up into a ball, Sparky placed him in the center of the field as the teams took their positions. And with a double buzz, the contest began.

Cody started off with the first possession with Harv in persuit. However, Jake kept him at bay as Cody passes the ball over to Faloo. Using the strength of her tail, Faloo gave Jase a hard swipe past Tooly and Rooster to score the first point for her team.

"Great shot, Faloo!" said Tooly.

"Don't cheer for the other team, ya kooky kookaburra brain!" said Rooster as he smacked Tooly on the head.

"Sorry," said Tooly.

Harv, Tooly, and Rooster were now in possession as Harv started off the offense with him and Rooster employing a classic give-and-go strategy that knocked Faloo for a loop. After getting past Cody and Jake, Harv scored the point for his team.

For a good while, the game was a back and forth exchange with most of the team members scoring points. All the while, Sparky just sat back and read a large magazine.

* * *

It had been at least a day since Penny and her family departed on their plane from New York. Penny rested comfortably on her mother's lap until the warmness of the bright sun eventually woke her.

"Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in Australia in just a few moments. Please buckle your seatbelts and do not leave your seats until the plane had landed and come to a complete stop," said the flight attendant.

After fastening her seatbelt, Penny looked out the window where she saw the vast red sands of the outback; from the many hopping kangaroos, to the sleeping koalas; this was far from what she was used to. Sure, she had been to a swamp, but this was a whole different ballgame than Devil's Bayou.

After landing, Penny, Robin, and Steven waited outside the entrance to the Ayers Rock Airport as Steven was told to meet a local ranger who would take them to their new quarters.

Eventually, a dark green jeep pulled up next to them from out of which came a tall, lean gentlemen with blond hair and wearing a dark green ranger outfit.

"Mornin' gents, welcome to the land down unda! My name's Ranger Waldo and I'll be taking you to ya new home," said the ranger.

"Nice to meet you," said Robin.

"Is the house far?" asked Steven.

"Nope, just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Just hop on in here and we'll be on our way," said Waldo.

Just then, Waldo noticed Penny, gently holding her teddy bear and was enthralled by how adorable she was. At first, she was hesitant towards him, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to his charm.

And so with that, the four got into the jeep and headed off.

Robin and Steven gained some new confidence. If Penny fancied well with this guy, maybe there could be others her age that she could get along with just as well.

As the jeep rode through the desert, the group passed an array of fauna, from lizards, to wallabies.

"Excuse me, sir, where are we headed?" asked Robin.

"Alice Springs, love. We'll be there in a few hours," said Waldo.

"Why is it called Alice Springs?" asked Steven.

"Well I guarantee you, it's not because Lewis Carroll spent time over there," Waldo said with a chuckle.

Soon, the group approached a cliff side road. Waldo advised Penny and family to keep themselves steady in the jeep and buckled up, because the road could be a little uneven sometimes. In light of this, Waldo made sure to drive as smoothly as he could.

Coming at a turn, Waldo slightly, but sharply turned, bringing them close to the edge, but not falling.

Despite the butterflies in their stomachs, Penny and family got a look at the many birds that flew by.

Unfortunately though, their sightseeing was cut short as a rumbling was felt underneath them. Ranger Waldo knew this all too well; it was an earthquake. Though it wasn't anything huge, he still knew he had to get himself and the family off the cliff side road immediately.

Penny tightly grasped her Teddy, bracing herself for anything that might happen. "Don't worry Teddy, we'll be ok," she said.

"Hang onto your trousers, gents. This gonna get a little bumpy," said Waldo.

He drove a little faster to get to the end of the road quicker. However, approaching them from above were a series of small boulders. Waldo managed to avoid a good number of them, however, one tiny piece managed to hit Penny's seatbelt, causing it to unfasten.

The largest boulder of the bunch came rolling down. Waldo knew this one would be more difficult to maneuver around, but he fancied himself as a daring son of a gun and was willing to try. As the boulder approached them, he stepped up the gas and did a sharp turn. The boulder had only managed to hit the jeep just at the back end. However, the impact caused Penny to fall sideways out of the jeep, sending her rolling down the hill.

"Penny!" Robin and Steven shouted. The two insisted that they go down to go after Penny.

"I'd love to, but we gotta focus on getting away from these boulders!" said Waldo.

As they drove away, Penny's parents looked on, but found no sign of her within the deep forest. Worry washed on their faces as they could only hope their daughter would be safe; but realized in such familiar environment, it would almost be impossible.

* * *

Because she had rolled all the way down, Penny wasn't harmed, but she was covered in a bit of dirt. Though that didn't bother her as much as the fact that Teddy had some dirt on him as well which she quickly brushed off.

"Mom! Dad! Ranger Waldo!" she called out with no answer. "This doesn't look good, Teddy, but don't be scared, I'll protect you,"

As the sounds of Australia surrounded her, she grew nervous. Separated from her family and no idea where to go, to say the least, she was up the river without a paddle. Firmly gripping her teddy bear, she began to take the first route that came to her mind and started walking, figuring that maybe if she found a way into town, she could get someone to help her. It was the best option she had at the moment, because she knew she couldn't just stand around. She would have to find some way, some how to get back to her parents, otherwise, in this environment, she wouldn't survive.


End file.
